Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a polysiloxane-based macromonomer for an ophthalmic lens and an ophthalmic lens using the same, and more particularly relates to a polysiloxane-based macromonomer for an ophthalmic lens, which exhibits excellent compatibility with a hydrophilic monomer, and which permits use of various composition in production of an ophthalmic lens.
Description of Related Art
Various properties are required for an ophthalmic lens such as a contact lens and an intraocular lens. In recent years, the contact lens, in particular, is required to exhibit more excellent oxygen permeability so that a sufficient amount of oxygen is supplied to a cornea of the eye.
On the other hand, it is widely known that a silicone polymer having a siloxane main chain including a siloxane unit as a repeating unit has excellent oxygen permeability. Various kinds of silicone polymer have been used as materials of various kinds of ophthalmic lens including the contact lens. For instance, a copolymer (silicone hydrogel) of a polysiloxane-based macromonomer in which a polymerizable group is bonded to the siloxane main chain, and a hydrophilic monomer such as N-vinylpyrrolidone and dimethyl acrylamide gives a highly oxygen-permeable water-absorptive lens. Accordingly, various studies have been made and various techniques have been proposed regarding the ophthalmic lens (particularly, contact lens) formed of the silicone hydrogel, and a method of production of such an ophthalmic lens. Specifically, a silicone hydrogel contact lens is proposed in JP-T-2008-511870, an ophthalmic lens for long-term wearing is proposed in JP-A-2010-20330 and a method of production of a silicone hydrogel contact lens is proposed in JP-T-2012-513042.
However, it cannot be said that the conventional polysiloxane-based macromonomer such as those described in the above-indicated Patent Documents 1 to 3 exhibits sufficiently high compatibility with the hydrophilic monomer. Therefore, in production of the ophthalmic lens using the conventional polysiloxane-based macromonomer, and the hydrophilic monomer or the like, there is a risk that when the components are mixed together, the mixture is clouded or whitened, or a polymer obtained by polymerization is clouded or whitened, depending on a combination of the components, giving rise to a problem that the combination of the components is limited in order to obtain a transparent ophthalmic lens.